A Woman God Can Use

By Lori Smith

In Papua New Guinea women are often taught they are worthless cargo to be used-and misused-at the hands of their frequently violent and selfish husbands, fathers or brothers. Recently I stitched the scalp of a woman whose husband cut her head open with a knife! This was permissible behavior in her eyes. My heart aches for these women to know they are precious to their heavenly Father. Most of the women view their lives as monotonous prisons, when they could allow God to use them to share with others the bondage-breaking message of salvation. What greater purpose could a woman have than to be used by God to transform her loved ones through Christ.

A few months ago, Doris, the Goroka Baptist Church pastor's wife, asked me to speak at the ladies meeting. I thought she was asking me for the regular monthly meeting with just a small group of ladies. Was I ever surprised to see women from our area churches at the meeting, many of whom I had not seen for a long time.

I explained to the woman that God desires to use each of His children as we allow ourselves to be clean vessels for Him. The auditorium was hushed with only the sound of quiet weeping as the Holy Spirit dealt with individuals. Since the meeting, one pastor's wife said God motivated her to begin a literacy program for the ladies in her church. Another shared how God has urged her to become a vocal and visual witness to her family. The greatest joy, however, was the comment a woman student wrote on her test paper at Goroka Baptist Bible College: "I am excited to see how I can really become a woman God can use!"